Solid-State Transformer for Energy Efficiency Enhancement DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84345

There are several wireless technologies that depend on the coverage and data rate, and these technologies allow the adoption of the multilayer architecture for smart grid as shown in Table 10. In the case of an SST-control center communication network, it is also possible to incorporate different intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), remote terminal units (RTU), substation automation solutions (SAS), universal gateways, smart meters, etc. There will be an increased complexity in the network operation due to the large amounts of data. Hence, these types of applications will require higher reliabilities and lower latencies. For such complex net-

According to the geographical service, networks are classified in home area network (HAN), neighborhood area networks (NANs), and wide area network (WAN). These networks have different coverage areas as detailed in Figure 18. HAN refers to networks within a single point facility (e.g., substation); it can range from a single home to a business area network (BAN) or industrial area network (IAN). Outside the single point facility, there are NANs and WANs. NAN, also known as field area network (FAN), connects several HANS and covers the transmission or distribution areas within several square kilometers. On the other hand, WAN connects several NANs, and it is considered the backbone of the communication system. It can cover thousands of square kilometers including the main control center. WAN can be a hybrid network with a mixture of wired and wireless

For applications that could be deployed wirelessly, the reader can find an updated selection of available technologies including satellite and mobile communications in Table 11. The communication spectrum could present congestion in

works, a geographical-dependent structure is required.

Research Trends and Challenges in Smart Grids

sections [32].

Figure 18.

136

Communication layer for SST.

#### Table 11.

Wireless technologies for SG.

licensed and unlicensed bandwidths due to the increasing number of technologies sharing the same resource. Therefore, the network designer must consider more stringent security mechanisms. A more efficient spectrum can deliver increased


Concerning the communication, the SST faces a great challenge. The requirements for SST's wireless communication network are complex because they seek lower latency, greater bandwidth, interoperability, and scalability. For this reason, it is relevant to focus on involving other types of wireless networks as an alternative

This study was supported by Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), the Electrical System Research Group GISE of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science FIEC (ESPOL), the scholarship program Walter Valdano Raffo II (ESPOL), and the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and

Innovation of the Republic of Ecuador (SENESCYT).

Solid-State Transformer for Energy Efficiency Enhancement

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84345

No potential conflict of interest is reported by the authors.

Fernando Vaca-Urbano\*, Manuel S. Alvarez-Alvarado, Angel A. Recalde

\*Address all correspondence to: fearvaca@espol.edu.ec

provided the original work is properly cited.

ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral ESPOL, Facultad de Ingeniería en Electricidad y Computación, Guayaquil, Ecuador

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

solution.

Acknowledgements

Conflict of interest

Author details

139

and Félix Moncayo-Rea

#### Table 12.

System multilayer architecture of SG [30].


#### Table 13.

Network requirements for SST over SG.

data rates and provide enhanced interoperability between devices and systems, as shown in the system architectures of Table 12. The main features for an efficient communication can be established through several qualitative and quantitative requirements for the SST-based power system telecommunications infrastructure, as shown in Table 13. It is important to highlight that many of the technologies of Tables 10 and 11 are integral in today's power system operation, such as the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), energy management system (EMS), wide area management systems (WAMS), etc. For the case of the SST-based power system, the wired and wireless technologies could provide a systemic integration and seamless communication (Table 12).
